DEVICE FOR ELECTRONIC ACCESS CONTROL WITH INTEGRATED SURVEILLANCE

• US 20090115570A1
• Filed: 10/30/2008
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Francis John Jr. Cusack
• Original Assignee: Francis John Jr. Cusack
• Inventors: Cusack, Francis John JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,624,733 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.200
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/20 involving the use of a pass
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/38 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

Described is a device for electronic access control (EAC) and surveillance. The device includes an EAC module and an imager integrated in a single unit. The EAC module controls physical access through a secure portal and the imager maintains surveillance of an observation area near the portal. A data signal is provided at a data port proximate to the EAC module and imager. The data signal includes EAC data for the portal, image or video data of the observation area and optional audio data. The device can be configured to communicate with a remote server and database over an IP data network. The device can also include one or more analytical modules for real-time computation and processing of data and generation of metadata for transmission over the data network. Correlating and combining current and historical data from multiple devices results in powerful real time threat detection and forensic search capability.

Claims

1. A device for electronic access control and surveillance, comprising:

an electronic access control (EAC) module for controlling physical access through a portal between a secure area and a non-secure area, the EAC module generating access control data;

an imager for surveilling an observation area proximate to the portal and generating at least one of image data and video data; and

a data port disposed proximate to and electrically coupled to the EAC module and the imager, the device providing at the data port a data signal comprising EAC data for the portal and at least one of image data and video data of the surveilled observation area.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising an audio surveillance module disposed proximate to and electrically coupled to the data port wherein the data signal further comprises audio data.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the image data or the video data are formatted for transmission from the data port as Internet protocol (IP) data.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a digital storage module for storing at least one of EAC data, image data and video data.

5. A device for electronic access control and surveillance, comprising:

an electronic access control (EAC) module for controlling physical access through a portal between a secure area and a non-secure area, the EAC module generating access control data;

an imager for surveilling an observation area proximate to the portal and generating video data;

an analytics module in electrical communication with one of the EAC module and the imager to receive the access control data or the video data, respectively, and to generate metadata in response thereto; and

a data port disposed proximate to and in electrical communication with the analytics module and at least one of the EAC module and the imager, the device providing at the data port a data signal comprising the metadata from the analytics module and at least one of EAC data for the portal and video data of the surveilled observation area.

6. The device of claim 5 further comprising an audio surveillance module disposed proximate to and being in electrical communication with the data port, the audio surveillance module generating audio data for the observation area.

7. The device of claim 5 wherein the data signal is an Internet Protocol (IP) format signal.

8. The device of claim 5 wherein the analytics module is an EAC analytics module and wherein the metadata are EAC metadata.

9. The device of claim 5 wherein the analytics module is a video analytics module and wherein the metadata are video metadata.

10. The device of claim 6 wherein the analytics module is an audio analytics module and wherein the metadata are audio metadata.

11. The device of claim 5 wherein the data signal comprises one or more of EAC data, EAC metadata, video data and video metadata.

12. The device of claim 6 wherein the data signal comprises one or more of EAC data, EAC metadata, video data, video metadata, audio data and audio metadata.

13. The device of claim 5 wherein the analytics module is an EAC analytics module in electrical communication with the EAC module and the data port, the device further comprising a video analytics module in electrical communication with the imager and the data port.

14. The device of claim 13 further comprising an applications analytic module in electrical communication with the EAC analytics module and the video analytics module, the applications analytic module providing to the data port a data signal comprising applications metadata responsive to EAC metadata generated by the EAC analytics module and video metadata generated by the video analytics module.

15. A system for electronic access control and surveillance, comprising:

a device for electronic access control and surveillance, the device comprising;

an electronic access control (EAC) module for controlling physical access through a portal between a secure area and a non-secure area, the EAC module generating access control data;

an imager for surveilling an observation area proximate to the portal and generating at least one of image data and video data; and

a data port disposed proximate to and electrically coupled to the EAC module and the imager, the device providing at the data port a data signal comprising EAC data for the portal and at least one of image data and video data of the surveilled observation area;

a remote database configured for communication with the data port of the device through an intervening data network and to store the EAC data for the portal and at least one of image data and video data of the surveilled observation area; and

a server in communication with the remote database, the server configured to process the EAC data for the portal and at least one of image data and video data of the surveilled observation area and generate analytical data in response thereto.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the data signal comprises an Internet Protocol data signal.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the server is configured to process the stored data in a forensic mode initiated by an operator of the server.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the server is configured to process the data in real time in response to the EAC data for the portal and at least one of image data and video data of the surveilled observation area as transmitted over the intervening network.